An attempt by the Rudd Labor Government to rob rural and regional communities of future telecommunications funding has been stopped in the Senate by Coalition senators, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Family First Senator Steve Fielding. The Government’s Nation Building Funds Bill 2008 was successfully amended to prevent the transfer of the Communications Fund to the Building Australia Fund.

Senator Barnaby Joyce, the Leader of The Nationals in the Senate, has welcomed the retention of the fund but said the fight will continue for better communications in regional and remote Australia.

“This fund was so arduously bargained for in 2005 during the Telstra debate,” Senator Joyce said. “The acrimony, insult and pain that The Nationals had to go through to get the money has not been lost. But the fund has been preserved and we would especially like to thank our Coalition Senate colleagues and Senator Nick Xenophon and Senator Steve Fielding for their support on this issue.

“We must never forget the people who live at the corner of a communication network. These Australians that live in remote, and sometimes not so remote areas, needed the money put aside so they could get some semblance of parity in the service. The battle continues in trying to make sure that the Government delivers to areas of logistic difficulty for service.

“The lack of public utilities such as health, education and other facilities should not be compounded by an inability to communicate with the rest of the world in a form that is compatible for the transfer of vital information.

“They don’t make separate computers for separate areas and if a program requires a specific download speed those without it are isolated from the ever-accelerating complexity of new online software requirements.

“The Rudd Labor Government in its attempt to bundle the money and burn it has been stopped in this instance but the battle will continue.”